


or a grandiose work of art

by I_Am_Not_A_Robot



Series: it's Cryptic Aesthetic (TM) time [4]
Category: Lemon Demon (Musician)
Genre: Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lemon Demon, Light Angst, M/M, Mysteries, Not Beta Read, Philosophy, Possession, Solipsism, Spirit Phone, View-Monster
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 03:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20575799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Am_Not_A_Robot/pseuds/I_Am_Not_A_Robot
Summary: A mile wide, a mile tall, does it matter?Art is art.





	or a grandiose work of art

The innovator sits on a short block of metal, basking in the midday sun. Sweat runs down his back, and he cranes his neck to squint at the white clouds going by. A bird flies overhead, silhouetted by the sky it lives in.

He smiles just a bit. 

On the dirt road winding through the desert, a few cars are parked. People, strangers, come to visit him everyday. Or really, the machine he’s building. This might be the first time in a month he’s come out during the day, which means of course he hears cameras clicking and shuttering from some yards away. Although irritating, it’s not much of a problem. What are they going to do with the photos, anyway? He doesn’t matter. No, not as much as the machine. 

It’s coming along nicely, anyway. Although during the summer months it starts to get  _ really _ hot inside. That’s why he was sitting outside, actually. The innovator needed a break from the endless work and stifling heat. 

Someone sits down next to him. Well, okay then. 

That’s certainly new.

Nobody has ever dared to go near him and his machine, so the innovator is surprised. He looks over at the other, a man about his age. The stranger winces when his hands touch the hot surface, no clothing in between to muffle the temperature. He immediately retracts his hands and settles them in his lap. “Um. Hello?”

The innovator can’t stop staring. “...Hi.” 

“What are you, uh, making?”

The innovator wonders that too. “A machine,” he responds truthfully. 

The stranger turns in his seat to look at the rest of the gleaming metal, disappearing into the distance. “It’s so big,” he comments. “This might be personal, but what drove you to start building?”

“I’m an artist.” The innovator didn’t quite know what else made him do it, other than art. Well, there was the possessed way he felt every other day, but other than that… nothing else. If this stranger wanted honesty, then he’d give it. He’d never been much of a liar, anyway. Nothing he made was a lie, either. His invention was all that it looked like: just a machine. Nothing more.

“Okay. Um, alright, I sort of wanted to talk to you.”

“Go ahead,” the innovator said, waiting patiently and quietly for the stranger to start talking.

“You’ve been here for awhile, right? Um, let’s go somewhere.”

“Together?”

The stranger looked away, laughing nervously. “Ha, er, yes.”

The innovator frowned. “Oh, sorry. I can’t leave. I have to stay here. I’m sort of on a creative spree, and I don’t want to lose it. And the machine needs me, and I need it. We can't part.” There was also that persistent Voice, but the innovator didn’t think mentioning that would give the curious stranger a good first impression.

The stranger stood up, his eyes suddenly switching from a melting chocolate brown to two hard tiger’s eyes. “You’ve been down in this machine for a really long time. You need a break. When was the last time you had a proper meal? You can't work if you're starving or dehydrating.” His shoulders relaxed, that same pinkish glow returning to his cheeks. Or maybe it was sunburn. “I’m taking you to town with me.”

Something about this whole situation made the innovator a little queasy. But in a good way. He wanted to resist, but something told him his project would be fine without him for a day. “O-okay, then,” he stuttered, hesitantly standing up and taking the stranger’s outstretched hand. “I should probably get your name, though.”

A strange look crossed the man’s face. “I… I can’t give it.”

That was okay. The innovator didn't know his name, so it was fine if this man didn't know his either. “Okay. What should I call you?”

“Whatever you want to.”

That’s intriguing. The two got into the stranger’s car, which had a few dents on the otherwise pristine hood. “Sorry I’m getting oil stains all over your seats,” the innovator said, sheepishly. His clothes and skin were covered in them, and no doubt the seat would be too.

“Oh, that’s fine. It doesn’t matter at all,” the stranger smiled. “Now… where would you like to go?”

“Just anywhere with food.”

The car zoomed off into the distance, kicking up dirt behind them.

Once they made it into town, the innovator looked around him with awe. He’d forgotten how tall buildings were. Or how many people lived in cities. But he still remembered where his house was, and couldn’t help but let his eyes stay on the street as they passed by. The stranger noticed, but said nothing, his eyes quickly flicking back to the road in front of him. Those brown eyes looked like amber in the sunlight. 

They passed by a multi-story building, and the innovator couldn’t help but let his jaw drop. “That’s so tall,” he breathed.

The stranger chuckled darkly under his breath, his voice suddenly taking on a completely new tone. “Oh, they’re nothing compared to-,” but the innovator didn’t catch the last few words.

The innovator chose to worry about that later. There was another question pressing at his mind. “If I may ask, why do you care about me so much? Why’d you take me out for lunch?” And why did he accept to go with him, anyway?

The stranger seems to stare at the road more intently, as if too shy to look the innovator in the eyes. “Uh.” Or maybe it was guilt? “I needed to talk to you.”

“You said that earlier, but I get the feeling we still haven’t talked about what you’re thinking about?”

“In a way. I um, I’ve heard rumours. That you hear a voice.”

They stopped in front of a restaurant, but the innovator felt too dumbfounded to move. “H-how did you-”

“It told me. It told me to find you.”

The innovator didn’t know what to say to that, so he simply opened the car’s door and got out, feeling impossibly small compared to the skyscrapers all around him. 


End file.
